


we’re the shadows beyond the lights

by kirin (shitchit), shitchit



Series: rhythm of the darkest nights [2]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Child Abuse, F/F, F/M, Found Family, I'm playing fast and loose with canon, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, Underage Drinking, cause my beta won't answer my fuckin texts, no beta we die like men, the isle is fucked up but frankly so is auradon, this is gay!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:40:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23859205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shitchit/pseuds/kirin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shitchit/pseuds/shitchit
Summary: "Y'know I expected the plan to be something rational," Carlos sighed."What's the fun in that?"----In which the Auradon Proposal is a year late, Mal has plans to take over a small country, Evie hopes her friends would be rational for once, and Carlos and Jay avoid their feelings.(this is a re-write of we're the shadows beyond the lights, and i will hopefull actually follow my update schedule this time)
Relationships: Ben & Chad Charming & Audrey Rose, Ben/Chad Charming/Audrey Rose, Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Evie/Mal (Disney), Jay/Carlos de Vil
Series: rhythm of the darkest nights [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1114491
Comments: 11
Kudos: 57





	1. prologue - tragic, powerful heroes arrest a bunch of unborn children and their evil parents

**Author's Note:**

> I took inspiration partially from her inclusion of Cassim from Disney's Aladdin show, and the creation of Auradon. Plus, some stuff about Aziz and his friends! Plus, this fic is just all around awesome. 
> 
> I've decided to re-write the entire thing and leave the old one up just in case someone wants to read it. This is actually going to be somewhat angsty this time, and since I didn't have time to watch the last movie, I'm just picking out the parts of canon that I actually like out. I hope you enjoy! Please give me critisism if you can!

Experiencing the separation from her hoard was excruciating, the pain burrowing deep in her bones. It felt as though Maleficent was hanging on a ledge, insanity lurking in the gorge below her. The heroes had taken her from her home, seduced her, although she wasn’t quite sure that the man simply didn’t know who she was until he had captured her, and led her to rot. That would be irony at it’s most vicious, considering Maleficent felt the stirrings of a child in the change of her magic. The poor child, Maleficent's mind would be stolen from right under her nose; and she would have been nothing but a slave to her primal urges, a beast in everything but name. Soon, her child would experience the worst parts of herself, mistreated beyond measure. Maleficent wept at the thought, her face betraying no glimpses of her inner turmoil. 

She would sacrifice her child to this cesspool of hatred and hurt, she would never get to see her child grow in her native land. The future was inevitable. The fairy godmother’s arrogance was somewhat well gained, but the half-blood is not as powerful that she could imprison the most powerful fae of the Unseelie Court, a goddess of the sea, a woman who had sold her soul to the devil, and various other powerful creatures without repercussions. It was foolishness to think so, and it amused Maleficent slightly to think that the revered heroes would fall to the sin of pride. 

Rising to her feet, she brushed the dirt off of her dress, and crooked out a hand, expecting Diablo to land on it at any moment, only to remember that he had fallen during her imprisonment. This is to be my prison, she thinks, Maleficent’s mind slowly growing furious. They dared to assume that they could cage her like a songbird in a gilded cage. An all-consuming anger envelops her like the riptide Ursula so favors, unrelenting and untamed. The self-named heroes have made to reduce her to an insignificant cautionary tale, nothing but a myth left to wither and rot on this damned island. 

Jafar slowly picks himself off the ground by her side, disrupting her thoughts. When she glances at him, he seems to be examining their new home, with the greedy eye of the former elite. She follows his gaze, and glares in disdain at the wasteland surrounding her, the so-called Isle of the Lost. More like a dumping ground for anything that didn’t fit the picture perfect world that the  _ heroes _ preferred, goodness doesn’t get any better? Don’t make her laugh. Karma only goes so far in the world, and their downfalls had as much to do with the scheming of the smarter heroes. Maleficent liked Prince Consort Aladdin and his queen, Jasmine. She would have to beat the stupidity out of Jafar, before she let him roam free on the isle. His tastes ran too young, for Jafar to suit hers. 

Maleficent looks up at the glistening transparent dome surrounding the Isle. Storm clouds are hidden amongst fluffy white culimbosises, threatening rain and lightning outside of the flimsy barrier that was erected around them. A massive trash head surrounds her, towering and disgusting, the smell enough to make her retch. The soil visible is almost sludge, the biodegradable trash having melded with it. Spindly trees are sparse with wilted plants littering the floor, but mountains stretch out into the distance, looming with snow-dusted peaks, a facsimile of what was the Hun’s home. 

The land is meager and infertile. she can only imagine how crowded the island will be in years to come. Oddly fitting for a prision, Maleficent had thought that the heroes would’ve been too weak-hearted for such drastic measures. On second thought, this is the weak-hearted option. The heroes should’ve killed them and be done with it. Someone must have suggested it and been shot down, the option too drastic for their  _ righteous morals.  _

"We will change it," Grimhilde murmured, brushing her side, as she stepped beside her. "We will make this our home, and scorn them for locking us away out of fear."

"Ah, but of course my dear. What else would we do with our time," Jafar said with a wink and a smile that dripped of insincerity. "We wouldn't want you to get bored, children running around has never been good for business."

"Do not dare to think that you can condescend me, fool. We have work to do."

"It was meant in good faith," Jafar smarmily smiled. Ha! More like the man couldn’t stomach the fact that he was outsmarted, and outclassed by several women.

Cruella growled with impatience, vultures hissing at her sides. When they turned back to look at her, she made shooing motions with her arms, the sleeves of her coat shifting with each movement. “Well, get on with it.” That woman unsettled her on a primal sense, the gleam in her eye speaking of untold cruelty.

“I will start the process. You may add extra additions if you must,” Maleficent shouts at the crowd of villains.

“Gan y duwiau yn yr awyr, rydym yn neilltuo ein henwau i ti,” she intones, her eyes going electric green and slit-pupiled. Glowing with unsated feral power. “Gall marwolaeth gymryd ein bywydau, ond rydym yn ei berygl i gyd. Torrwch y ddaear, a rhowch un yn ôl i'r môr. Dechreuaf ar y Morrigan i gwblhau'r dasg hon.”

“Dagli dei, dedichiamo i nostri nomi a te,” Cruella whispers, her hair standing on end, and with her hands free from her ever present gloves, her ever present vulture companions’ eyes glowing a flat red color. 

“Bei den Göttern,” Grimhilde growls, sparks flaring to life around her, an aura of pure malice dripping like poison. “geben wir dir unsere Namen.”

“Min alalihat , nukris 'asma'ana 'iilyk,” Jafar chanted, his shadow writhing on the ground, cracks of golden power splitting his skin, the cuffs on him growing molten hot.

“By the primordial powers that the titans wield, we devote our names to thy grace,” the rest of the villains roared, a thousand auras flaring to life, a thousand different languages ringing throughout the air, colorful and blinding. “Death may come for our name, and we shall resist for a single more moment, as to die by your hand.”

“De réir na déithe, caitheann muid ár n-ainm leat, Ursula spoke, her words curling in the air around her like smoke. Her tentacles lashing out, and her eyes glassy as though she had left her body and ascended to a higher plane of existence. “Larrain arEa na scoileanna sa domhan a líonadh le beatha an domhain.”

The earth rumbled beneath their feet, vibration shaking their feet. Hairline fissures began to appear slowly on the ground, the words of a thousand creatures filling the air, cried out in a torrent of sound. 

The words were inaudible but the pure power lurking there was as old as the primordials themselves. As tornadoes ripped their way through the earth; hurricanes, brutal and harsh, tore their way throughout the coasts; wildfires burning down anything that stood in its path. Something raw and infernal, and something that felt entirely like the birth of a star. Burning and beautiful.

Slowly but surely the land tugged their way apart, and the voice died down to a whisper. One island was sinking fast, and several of the voices, the ones that felt like a hurricane howling at being contained in a human form, that felt like an ocean storm snapping a ship in half, fell silent.

As the islands settled in place, a single voice screamed out a word, something that sent shivers down a spine but still incomprehensible to the mortal ear. A single island broke off, the earth turning pitch black on its surface, and several torches sparked alight with an unnatural blue flame. 

“The deed is done,” Maleficent intoned with a hoarse voice. “Go. We will speak later about our new prison.”


	2. there are problems", says the world. "no fucking shit," go the small violent children.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the young leaders of the isle run into some problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, chapter two is up babee! i'm also so bad at character voices if it isn't weird vague prose,, so this is fun! some random art that i made so y'know how your faves look like
> 
> carlos  
> mal  
> evie  
> jay
> 
> isle of the lost map  
> bunker scene before mal and jay popped up

Snippets of voices pass by her ears; some of them harsh and guttural, others smooth and oil-slick. The marketplace thrives beneath her as the bustling masses of the Isle of the Lost move their way through their daily routines. As Mal flies through the air, her fingertips brush the rooftops and swiftly move to get to her destination across the city. Jay is ahead of her, his movements fluid and sleek. He looks like he was made for this, the feeling of weightlessness before the fall. At times she wonders if he would be more at peace with a pair of wings on his back. Other times, she wonders if this is where he should’ve been all along. 

However the problem at hand, the food crisis, is where most of her attention is placed at the moment. Rotten and moldy food can only be salvaged so far and the islands that comprise the Isle are either too crowded or filled with infernal energy. Granted this wouldn’t be a problem if the fuckheads at Auradon would get off their high horses once in a while. The Beast himself hasn’t been there to visit since the creation of the Isle. Mal shakes her head to get rid of the resentment clouding her mind and refocuses on making her way to the underground bunker where the leaders would meet. Uma and Huang had their demands as well. Uma’s main priority is getting rid of the barrier so that their territories will expand. The greedy asshole would do anything to gain more power, but Mal could grudgingly respect the care that they treated their people with. Huang on the other hand was focused on gaining more supplies to take care of the sickness that had overtook the shamans and the Huns a month ago. Which was sad, but there wasn’t much Mal could do there considering that her speciality was fucking shit up instead of healing. 

Suddenly slowing down and shouting out a greeting, Jay startles her out of her thoughts, “I thought you said that I get ‘em half off, asshole.”

“Bitch, that was only if you followed through with the deal we made, and since I’m outta ink, you clearly haven’t paid up,” Claudine Frollo hollers back.

“What am I supposed to do, it’s not like bougie assholes at Auradon give us stuff worth shit often.”

“Evie already has a mix made up that should work,” Mal interrupts. 

“Shit, seriously? I’ll bring it over to you Frollo.”

“You better, ‘cause I’ve got so many orders backed up.”

Picking up the pace Mal says, “I have no fucking clue what Uma wants, they would’ve came out with it unless they knew that we’d have a problem with it.”

“Relax, Mal. Y’know as well as I do that so long as you have leverage they won’t risk pissing you off. Plus, Huang and Ace’ll back you up if it’s that bad,” Jay reassures, getting ready to dip down to the bunker.

“I fucking hope so.” Mal mutters under her breath, relaxing slightly as they enter.

“There you are,” Uma smirks, her features quirking up into a sharp smile, “I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t show.”

“Sounds like you missed me,” Mal shoots back, baring her teeth into a smile that she knows has too many teeth to be friendly.

“ You know I al-”

“It’d be great if we could stop the pissing contest and actually start the meeting,” Huang interrupts, his features twisting into something vaguely fond. Ace lingers behind him. The marks of the stress that came from managing the idiots that populated Savage, the island of the henchman, were clear on his face. His eyes were hard, and his face looked emotionless as always. Behind him, Devilshire stands, clad in leather and lurking with their body half in the shadows and half in the light. Their eyes glint in the light, gold masking the iron inside.

“Alright, let’s get to business. This meeting’s takin’ place cause of the food shortage,” Huang announces, the glacial blue eyes of his second, Kai, darting from figure to figure. Furs sit heavy on their shaman’s shoulders. Kai’s curly hair sticks out in contrast to Huang’s way pics and the dark blue shaman runes stand out from where they are marked under his eyes. Beside them sit their direwolves. White and bloody, reminders of what exactly Huang’s people are capable of. 

“We can’t grow anything on the isle so most of our food has to come from Auradon. That food is shit, cause everyone knows that the famed heroes generosity only goes so far. And shit man, we also know that there’s a difference between _fish_ and fish, and the former’s running out. So, what’s our plan? I need answers here.”

Mal’s eyes narrow and study the slightly stiff posture that Uma’s sporting. Her eyes are calculating and sharp, and it’s personal experience that tells her that Uma’s already dead set on her idea, and Hades himself only knows what she wants now.

“I made my plans pretty clear about what I think the ideal solution for the food crisis is, but I think I’m gonna need to clarify,” Uma studies Mal criticality. “Fishing outside Auradon’s borders is a pretty good plan, but that won’t sustain us. If we’re going through with blowing a hole in the barrier, there’s no reason that we shouldn’t commit. Raiding Auradon’s shores would be our best bet..”

“Shut up!” Mal yells. “You know more than anybody here that secrecy is godammed important. If they realize that we can use magic inside the border and have found a way to fucking break it, they’re going to kill us all.”

“And that’s why we need to do it in the first place,” Uma shouts back, “We can take them by surprise, demand trading, and, most importantly, get off this damned place.”

“That’s a great idea, except for the fact that Auradon’ll just kill us anyway. They don’t give a single fuck about us.”

Devilshire physically steps between her and Uma and frowns, ”This isn’t helping anybody, argue like reasonable people.”

“My second is right,” Ace turns to look at Mal with something like anger lurking in his eyes, “I’m putting my lot in with Uma, she’s right. Auradon has torn us down enough, and we shouldn’t lie down and take it like the dogs that they think we are.” Which _what?_ Does he think that just because she’s the daughter of a major that she doesn’t have to deal with the same shit that he does? 

Kai interrupts sharply, “You forget that we have reason to be afraid of what they’ll do when we announce ourselves. My people are practically wiped out. The only reason we survived so long was because we went rogue, and led to our imprisonment here.”

“So it’s half and half.” Harry rubs his hook as he draws out his answer, a nervous tick that Mal recognizes from his sister.

“Listen to me. We need to get this over and done with soon. I don’t care what action is going to happen but we need to decide now before the heroes figure out that their mighty barrier has been breached.” Huang’s voice echoes around the room. He’s been stressed ever since they found out that the sickness that most of the Huns were infected with didn’t go away even after death. His people stuck in constant limbo between life and death, and suffering in the meantime. At times like these she wishes that the Heroes actually took time to think their actions through. The death law, that prevents anyone from actually dying on the Isle, wasn’t a blessing. Mal has watched too many people die to think that everybody deserves to live. 

“Okay,” Jay cuts in. “We have three options. One, break the barrier and get Auradon’s attention. Two, starve and let Huang’s people die due to inaction. Or three, evacuate everyone to the Sunken and the Gate when we break the barrier so we can leave.”

“I think that we should continue this meeting tomorrow and we can figure out what we're doing then. We still have a year before we actually run out of good food,” says Ace. “Say aye if you’re in favor.”

“We don’t have a year left. Most of the Huns and shamans are in comas due to Hades. There’s only so much time that I can waste before we’re dealing with the next generation of Huns being born in those comas.”

Mal whirls around to stare at Huang along with everybody else sans Kai, who looks grim and pale-faced. The boy in question sighs and slumps down onto one of the chairs at the meeting table and puts his head into his hands. 

With the solemn voice that comes with a lesson that has been taught so many times that it rests in the marrow of your bones, Huang grits out, “Weakness is not tolerated. We hid it for fear that the scavengers that litter both Lost and Savage would come to take territory. It would be a massacre, and all we have left is teenagers and children.”

This-this is the worst possible scenario. She knows why Huang didn’t mention it sooner, but- Best possible scenario they have nine months to find the cure, and considering that everything grown on the Isle is toxic it will definitely take longer than a year. The only way to salvage this is to go begging to Auradon for help. And there’s no fucking way that that’s happening. Pride is the one thing that nobody can take from you. Going to beg for help from the shitheads that stuck them there is something that Mal will always refuse to do. Everybody else of the Isle has the same sentiment, except for Cassim, the sentimental fucker. 

Mal looks up and glances around the room. “Fuck, okay. We need time to come up with a solution. Consult with your healers, and try your best to find out if we can pool resources. Huang, how much time exactly do we have.”

“Six months.”

“All in favor of picking this up again tomorrow? Say aye.”

A rounding aye is heard across the meeting hall. The acoustics of the room make it echo around the room oddly as one by one they leave the meeting room. Huang and Kai leave with their direwolves flanking their sides. Kai paints a rune in the air and the air surrounding him and Huang starts to blur. They leave in a flash, Kai’s eyes flicking once, desperation visible, to Mal’s own before they left. Uma jumps in the air with a running start, her human skin falling off and divinity coming easily. The octopus tentacles twirl together and increase her momentum. Harry is held securely in a princess carry in her arms. Ace and Devilshire leave, dropping through one of the Cheshire Cat’s signature portals, the view of the skyscrapers that make up Savage visible. Mal watches them all leave before following Jay on the way home.

\------

When they arrive at the loft, Evie is sitting there on the bench, looking less put together than she usually maintains. There’s a barely visible smear of something dark and chalky smeared across her cheek, and her hair is bound behind her in a two messy buns. Mal watches as the smoke surrounds her like one of the paintings that washes up on the Isle’s shores. A large ladle rests in Evie’s hand and she’s muttering under her breath. Mal doesn’t even notice that she’s staring until Jay nudges her arm. When she turns to look at him, his mouth is quirked in a smile and he looks knowingly at Evie. In return, she punches his arm and looks pointedly at the figure resting beside Evie. Jay looks embarrassed, a slight flush spreading across his face before he loudly exclaims his presence before jumping down from the window and yelling, “We’re home honey~.”

Mal rolls her eyes but lets him be with the obvious deflection. He can tease her as much as he wants, but he’s been pining after Carlos far before she started liking Evie. Jay puts up too many walls for anybody but her to pass through them. Maybe Carlos would get to that point, but the rapport that she and Jay built up from years alone is something that will never be broken. He recognizes the subtle warning in her eyes though, just like she recognizes his.

The Isle doesn’t give a shit about who you fuck. Affection on the other hand? You better repress that shit real deep before someone picks up on it. Mal has fucked plenty of people and so has Jay. Sex is a currency more than anything else. Loving somebody… it paints a target on their back and on your own. 

She watches as Jay makes his way down from the ceiling. He clings to the boardwalk for a moment before swinging down and landing in a crouch right in front of a sitting Carlos. The boy’s overalls are oil-stained and are overlarge with one of the straps holding it up falling to the side. Cigarette burns are clearly visible on the dark skin exposed. Jay’s eyes dip down and a flash of dark anger passes across his face before it’s masked by an expression that even Mal would be fooled by if she didn’t see the anger before. Carlos’s attention on the other hand is fixed on his journal, scribbling in it with the fervor of a mad scientist. His freckles are visible through various oil stains and sitting next to him are two machines. One looks like a radio that had an angry monkey tear through it with wires sticking out of it, dented metal scarred with multiple gouges, and chipping paint. The other machine is less recognizable, and honestly, to Mal, it looks more like a steam engine than anything else. The thick smoke rising out of it marks it as one of the machines that Mal tends to avoid at all costs.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jay and Carlos have started whispering to each other in hushed voices. The curious part of her wants to know what they’re talking about but… Evie’s way more interesting than whatever Jay and Carlos are cooking up. Without a further thought, she jumps down to the boardwalk and lands next to her, body tensing to absorb the impact before relaxing. Well, she relaxes before smelling whatever Evie concocted inside the giant cauldron resting in front of her. The rusted brim is coated heavily in the leftovers of a sticky, putrid smelling substance.

“So,” Evie perks up at the sight of Mal, something that makes Mal’s heart beat slightly faster, “What happened at the meeting? I haven’t seen you this tense since Maleficent last lost control of herself.”

Jay pipes up from where he has progressed into laying slightly in Carlos’s lap, and not noticing Carlos’s burning ears, “It went to shit. The Huns are very fucked, and Uma’s got an insane scheme cooked up.”

“Way to be blunt, Jay,” Mal shoots back, ignoring the affronted noise and the comment about what a hypocrite she is, “Remember when you blew a hole into the barrier last week.” Carlos makes a noise confirming it. “Well, Uma got plenty of ideas from that,” she says, continuing her explanation, “She wants to blow a permanent hole in the barrier near the reefs that she claimed. Then, her plan is to fish the oceans surrounding them, which isn’t a bad idea. I would’ve said yes to that.”

“She wants to get revenge on Auradon right?” Carlos ducks his head a bit when they all turn to look at him. “Why are you looking at me like that? It makes the most sense, right?”

“Yeah, Carlos’s right.” Jay at this point has given up on all subtlety and is completely lying in Carlos’s lap. Mal sends him a smug knowing look and gets a scrunched slightly red-tinted face in return.

“Uma wants to raid Auradon’s coasts, so that we’ll have revenge and more resources.”

“Her idea isn’t that bad though,” Evie looks up at Mal, bright brown eyes questioning, “You usually wouldn’t be against this.”

“She wants to expose us, and Maleficent is still nuts. On top of that, Mal’s still scared she might try to kill everything in sight. So, getting her a way off the isle isn’t the greatest idea.”

“Shut the fuck up, Jay. My mother’s not insane, and I’m not afraid of her or what she can do.”

“Her plan won’t work anyway,” Carlos glances up from where his eyes were firmly fixed on the steam engine beside him.

“Why not?”

An unintelligible mumble was the only response that Evie got.

“Speak up.”

“Because it-The explosion wasn’t planned, I really don’t-I’ve got no clue how it happened.” His voice is loud at first but slowly quiets down. “The thing that created it was supposed to be a steam engine for the spa in the market.”

“What the fuck, man? Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Jay says from his place in Carlos’s lap. Carlos’s only response is too soft to reach her ears from where she is, and her weak human ears can only do so much. From what she can see, Jay hears it clearly by the twisted expression on his face. He spits out something almost unrecognizable, flips onto his stomach and burrows deeper into Carlos’s lap, missing the red hot blush crosses Carlos’s face for a second, visible even through his dark skin.

“So, if Carlos manages to reverse-engineer it, you would go through with the plan by blowing up the barrier?” Evie asks, her voice hard, almost covering the slight amusement in her eyes. Carlos’s reaction was hilarious, although it would have been more funny if she didn’t know why he was reacting like that. Mal never claimed to be a good person though, so it just made the situation even more funny. In her head, Mal was wheezing with laughter, but on the outside she just raises an eyebrow at the whole scene. 

“Yup, that’s the plan,” Jay says.

Carlos grinned down at the teenager in his lap before he took a look at his watch. “Oh shit, Cruella’s gonna be home soon. I have to go.” He jumps up, dislodging Jay from his lap and causing a fake groan to come out of Jay. Carlos grabs his satchel and stuffs the machines next to him inside the scratchy interior. His overall strap slips down with the motion showcasing the small round burn marks again. Jay’s face goes dark, but before he can speak Mal breaks in.

“Are you sure?,” her voice is harsh, she knows it is, but she can’t bring herself to soften it. There’s something sharp within her that surfaces whenever she sees Carlos with a limp and raw pink hands, or Jay wincing whenever he moves his back, or Evie staring down at her reflection in the mirror. She’s not meant for soft things, and she can’t bring herself to be someone who can even if she wanted to. They might hate her, but they would be alive and that’s enough for her. So, her question is harsh, and uncompromising. That’s the way she is and that’s not changing.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” his voice is soft, Mal guesses that he knows that she’s worried. “I’ll be fine.”

“Alrighty then, who wants a ride on the Jay express.” Jay grins, eyes sharp and hard, kipping up to a standing position.

“Nah, I’m good. Mother wants me to finish the cleaning before she gets home.”

“Okay.”

They watch as he limps out of the loft, his leg trailing slightly behind him. Mal softly swears in her head. What was the use of all this power if she can’t even use it to save one of hers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls leave constructive critisim in the comments! this is my first fic? kinda my first fic? anyway leave feedback!
> 
> mal: i cannot show emotion at all
> 
> jay: sure thing you useless fuckin bisexual.


	3. local king decides to be a decent person despite vocal protests.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ben tries to be a good person, people react.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, I actually kept up with this update schedule? dreams can come true. so, turns out that i would die for lonnie with my whole heart and that's the truth. also claudine will totally end up as a self-insert for me even though she's a girl. we all need some chaotic bastard to laugh at your problems and give you bad stick and pokes right? yea!! we do!
> 
> yea so i do not actually have anymore character art for you, but i can assure you that mal's tattoo in the books, and hades the wine aunt will show up in the next chapter.

Crown Prince Benjamin Florian is currently panicking. 

You really can’t blame him right? He’s about to be king at seventeen which is probably too young. And he’s going to crash and fail so quickly, just watch him. Ben’s nervous eyes focus on the crown on the cushion before him, and flicks his eyes to look at his half dressed reflection. His hair’s a mess due to how many times his hands have run through it, and his wide eyes have a panicked sheen to them. Ben starts pacing once more. 

Behind him he hears the door to his room squeak open, soft footsteps and then two tan arms are encircling his chest. He turns partially to give Audrey a proper hug, and promptly turns red at the reminder of his undressed state. She takes one look at his flushed face, snorts and steps back, releasing him from the hug. 

“Why are you so red babe? It’s not really like you have anything to be ashamed of.” Audrey smirks at the blush that deepens across his face which really isn’t fair. He can only go so red before he spontaneously combusts. 

“I-Well, it’s not like- I’m-I just-”

“Calm down, you’re not naked.”

“I- Yeah, okay. Why did you come in? Did you need something?” he searches for a way to switch the topic so that he won’t die before he even gets crowned. Actually that’s not that bad of an idea. Death by the childhood friend that he has a crush on? Much better than dying and taking the whole country down with him. Has he mentioned that he’s going to be ruling a whole country? 

“Your parents need you, said something about looking over the proposals that they gave you?” Audrey moves around him to sit on his bed and motions him to start dressing. “So, get dressed. Give me a show.” At the last part she winks playfully. 

Red once more, Ben turns around to get dressed as neatly and as quickly as possible, grabbing his crown on the way out. A half-teasing catcall follows him through the door, and he smiles at Audrey’s efforts to make him loosen enough. Sadly, he’s not going to be able to relax for a while. The Auradon Proposal could either put him in history books or destroy his country. It’s like dad said. Go big or go home. Ben’s really hoping that he’ll see it that way. 

Slowing to a stop in front of the massive doors to Fathers’ office, Ben takes a steadying breath and pushes through. Inside Mother, wearing a yellow sundress, and Father, as kingly as they come, wait for him with the papers and profiles spread around them. Namely the profiles of several of the descendents of the villains that wreaked havoc among the lands not too long ago. The papers are highlighted and covered in Ben’s neat handwriting, detailing the laws and the goals that he has set for his country. Father’s face is twisted with some nameless emotion at the content that lies within them. 

He guessed that since Father was the one to put the original policy in place, he wouldn’t be in favor of his plan. Unfortunately, Ben wouldn’t be letting go of this proposal even if the kids he brought over turned out to be just like their parents. Mother agrees with him, he knows this for a fact because this was one of the few things that he caught them arguing about. Those were vicious fights, he remembers the silence that followed them during the aftermath and how he would avoid them both. Ben snaps out of his thoughts when Father pointedly clears his throat and flicks his eyes down to the profiles that litter his desk. 

“Since when was this an idea that you had? You never even had a rebellious phase as a kid,” he muses, before hardening his voice. “I expected better of you Ben.”

Mother narrows her eyes at Father, “You know that this is something that was a long coming. There’s only so many times you can put this off Adam. These are children and if they manage to get the help that they need it will be worth everything that could’ve gone wrong!”

“They are born to people who sought to wreck everything we’ve ever held dear, and you expect me to treat them as if they were entirely innocent? They may not have deserved to be there in the first place; but can you really justify taking children away from their parents?” Father spits the words out, and it’s times like these when he can imagine the beast that Father used to be. 

“I can’t really say what’ll happen because I don’t know, but they deserve a chance at least. Our policy is goodness never gets any better,” Ben interrupts. And he can see the stunned expressions on his parents. He’s never dared to interrupt one of them before. “Are we actually good if we can’t find it within ourselves to forgive people that have nothing to do with the crimes of their kin?”

“I stand with Ben. If you can’t even try to give them a chance I don’t know what happened to the man that I fell in love with.”

Sighing heavily Father sits down in his chair. “And what if it goes wrong? What happens if they destroy everything? Auradon Prep is filled with princes and princesses. If one of them is harmed their parents will have our heads. This is a political minefield.”

“What about moral integrity Adam! This is temporary at worst and we can kick them out the minute that they cause serious harm.”

“I’m not standing down on this Father. I couldn’t live with myself if there wasn’t something that I could do to help them.”

“Alright,” Father reluctantly agrees. 

Mother gives him a quick thumbs up while out of Father’s line of sight, and he has to stifle a giggle. Father’s next words sobers him up however. 

“Are you sure that you want to take  _ these  _ kids here, though?” In his hands are the profile and the images of Malice Faery, Evelyn Rothschild, Jamaal al-Quais, and Carlos de Vil. 

He doesn’t quite know where the profiles came from, but he’s guessing that the schools there need some sort of system for tracking down their student. Those four along with the other children on the Isle of the Lost were placed in a raffle so that the process was randomized. Of course the students picked were mostly the kids of the bigger villains and not sidekicks. 

The descendents look surprisingly different from their parents. Malice Faery in particular with her east asian features, short height, and purple hair. Jaamal, Evelyn, and Carlos resembled their parents more closely with a few exceptions like Carlos’s freckles, Jaamal’s wavy hair, and Evelyn’s tan skin. Their expressions in the pictures were what concerned him, their body language was fierce and hostile, like they took everything as a threat. Like they were simply surviving and not  _ living _ . It shouldn’t be like this. The descendants shouldn’t have to create those barriers so young in life. They deserved to feel  _ safe _ .

Ben supposed that Mother saw the same, but Father, Father saw reflection of the worst foes that the world had known. Which wasn’t exactly the best thing to see in a handful of blameless teenagers. But it made sense in a sad sort of way. Ben saw the way that Mother reacted to meeting Gaston again, and Father was fiercely protective of her. 

\---

“You want to do  _ what!? _ ” 

“Audrey, calm down, it’s not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be. They aren’t actually their parent’s carbon copies. We need to at least give them a chance,” Ben said. 

“Still, they’ve stuck on an island with only villains for company. Do you think that those people will actually be good company? Because I don’t.” 

“You can’t actually know that for sure until you meet them.”

“You don’t know that for sure until you meet them either.”

“I know that we at least have to give them a chance!”

“Alright, alright.” Audrey threw up her hands in exasperation, and her expression turned thoughtful, though Ben wasn’t sure what exactly was going through her mind. “You know I’ll support you in whatever you want to do, right?”

Ben shot her a relieved smile and turned to hand her the copies of the profiles that were on his desk. Her eyes widened in surprise and a dark look overtook her face at the name gracing the first paper. “You want to bring the daughter of my mom’s worst energy here? Are you thinking clearly? I said I would support you, but you’re not even bringing Gaston’s kids but other people’s nightmares?”

“It’s not like that at all! I invited those kids because they were in a random raffle, I even taped the process so that if- _ when _ people question my decision I have proof that it was entirely random! I can show it to you if you want?” Ben explained. 

Audrey made eye contact as if to gauge if he was telling the truth and looked down to flip through the papers. Eyes narrowed, she looked through the pictures of the descendents, and the obvious hostility visible in the image. He saw that her eyes zeroed in closely to the different scars that were visible on their skin. Her eyes flicked back up to his and voiced a question he hadn’t thought much about until this moment.

“Okay, there’s a couple of problems with your plan. First, you don’t even know if these kids speak Common. Second, how are you going to feed them and pay for their accommodations and get them to understand that things are different here. Third, how are you to make sure that they don’t meet their parent’s enemy’s kid and kill them.” Her voice was filled with the tone that teenagers on T.V took when they argued with their significant others. 

Ben quieted for a bit, running through the possible solutions to Audrey’ questions. The descendents probably spoke something close to Common because even though the villains mostly prefered their native languages, they still knew enough Common to be fluent in it. Plus, from the reports of the Isle in its infancy there were multiple pidgins 1 that were being created. He already had a plan for the money situation, but he wasn’t quite sure that it would work or not. Hopefully, Ben could create a series of patrons that could offer money for the descendents to use living in Auradon. So far he had Agrabah, Corona, Arendale, and France as the willing participants for the patron system. As for the last problem, that’s something he has no idea how to counter. Ben could have them separated in different dorms, and purposefully placed in classes so that they wouldn’t even catch a glimpse of their parent’s rival’s kids. But in the long term it wouldn’t really work, they would be bound to end up meeting each other at some point or another. Ben is startled out of his thoughts when the door to his room opens once more and is close quietly with a snick. 

“What’s u-This looks important so I’m just going to go.”

Ben half-turns to see the wide-eyed look on Chad’s face as he looks at the scene he walked into. Which isn’t exactly the norm with Ben being stressed beyond measure and Audrey shooting him a glare that could melt glass. 

“Benny Boo over here is trying to get the kids from the Isle to come to Auradon Prep,” Audrey spits, fury taking over her features.

“I am not getting involved in this but  _ what the fuck dude. _ ” Chad turned to look at him incredulously.

Ben exasperatedly threw his hands into the air, How many times would he have to explain that people deserve to live someplace where you wouldn’t trip over a murderer every couple minutes. “God, just because you’re related to someone doesn’t man you’re exactly like them. Just because you got to grow up privileged doesn’t mean that everyone else gets the same opportunity.”

“I have rapidly changed my mind. Never mind. Although, Audrey I thought that you would be slightly more onboard for this.”

“I would’ve been if it weren’t for Prince Dumbass over here inviting Maleficent’s daughter.”

“Oooh that’s kind of a dick move.”

“Except for the fact that I didn’t do it on purpose and the whole process was randomized.”

“So, both of you are being idiots?”

“And where did you get that from, Chad,” two incredulous voices rang out in unison. 

Chad winced at the two furious expressions directed his way. “Ben’s not acknowledging the fucked up shit that Maleficent did to your family, and Audrey’s not listening to what you’re saying.”

It was accurate, but why would Audrey ever think that he condoned what Maleficent did as justified? He never even said anything close to that. Ben watched as Audrey’s face turned blank the way that it did when she was really pissed. 

“Am I supposed to automatically trust people who have been in contact with villains for all of their lives and are  _ related  _ to said villains. Because I don’t and I’m not really seeing why I should.”

“I’m agreeing with Audrey here. I don’t trust these people as far as I can trust them. Maybe they shouldn’t have been in the Isle of the Lost in the first place, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are and it’s too late.”

Ben looked both them pleadingly in their eyes. “I’m not asking for automatic trust here. I just want you guys to give them a chance. They deserve something at the very least. If not for them, please do it for me. Please.”

Both of them exchanged a glance that communicated something that he didn’t understand, but they came to a consensus. Audrey heaved out a sigh; and Chad looked up to the ceiling, running a hand through his blond curls. 

“I’ll do that for you, but if they step a foot out of line I’m kicking them out. They get one chance,” Audrey spat out reluctantly. Chad nodded his head along in solidarity, 

“So we’re really going through with this.”

“I guess so, I hope it turns out well.”

\---

“Did you hear? Prince Ben is going to-”

The voices drew him out of his summer homework, which was good riddance. It was just busy work anyway. Aziz bin Abi Sulma, Prince of the Kingdom of Agrabah, was a sucker for some good gossip. With that mindset stuck into him, he went to go interrogate the two gossiping girls that had walked past his hiding place. Of course they wouldn’t see it in those terms, but it never hurt to be honest to yourself. 

Dropping down from his place among the rafters, he caught up to the two girls by announcing his presence with a cheery greeting. “What’s up ladies? I heard that Prince Ben is up to something, and I heard you two were the perfect place to get information from.”

“Well,” one of them started, giving him a flirty grin. “Apparently, Prince Ben decided that he was going to put out a proposal that’ll bring the Isle kids over to Auradon Prep!” 

“Isn’t that insane? Like he’s not even king yet and he already wants to do something this crazy? What kind of maniac does that?,” the student that Aziz now recognizes as the daughter of Chief Merida comments. 

That  _ definitely _ wasn’t what he expected. Aziz expected it to be more about Chad, Audrey, and Ben finally getting into a relationship, because who knows how those idiots had been pining. The Isle of the Lost, on the other hand, was an issue that his dad had been against since the beginning. That didn't really matter though, because Agrabah wasn’t a part of Auradon. As a non-official part of the U.A, they didn’t have the same influence that places like Corona and Arendale. Plus, the majority of the countries under the U.A were for it. Which meant that his sidi was stuck on the Isle despite the wishes of almost every person in Agrabah. 

But if the Isle kids were getting pardons there was a chance that Sidi could get one too! Aziz needed to let Dad know about it. He’s distracted from his train of thoughts by a poke to his ribs. Melody is looking up at him with a concerned expression fixed on her face. 

“You okay? I know that your grandfather’s on the Isle, but I’m pretty sure that the proposal is only for the Isle kids,” she whispers, the two girls from before long gone. 

At his surprised look, she shoots him deadpan stare. “Did you really think that all of us believe in what our parents think? I have no clue how Mother gave up a life under the sea for love because I can’t imagine ever making that choice.”

“Oh, it’s not like I’m making an unreasonable assumption. Most of the kids here believe exactly in what their parents think. They have no reason to think otherwise.” Aziz says. 

“Well, it wasn’t the correct one when it comes to me. You know how to contact me if you need help.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aziz says as he slips back into his hiding spot, thinking about the changes that might happen this school year. 

\---

“Finally, it looks like someone inherited all of the brain cells that King Beast was lacking.” 

“I’m surprised that Queen Belle’s genes managed to come out on top considering how much stupidity that they had to counter.”

Li “Lonnie” Lanying’s parents weren’t usually ones to talk badly about people unless they had it coming. And in accordance with what Lonnie knew, King Beast had this coming for a long while. Come on, unifying every country by force and forcibly jailing some of the more morally ambiguous people that were involved in their parents misfortune? That was just stupid. The Huns may have tried to take over China, but that didn’t mean that the few Huns that survived the avalanche and the war against them should be stuck on the Isle of the Lost. Some of them had kids! 

Plus, Aziz’s grandfather had been jailed too despite the protests of the people in Agrabah. It was shitty what had happened, but Lonnie didn’t know why her parents were rehashing up old blood. What had happened, specifically what did Prince Ben do? 

He was one of the only people that she actually liked, and had accepted her no matter the circumstances. They had become ride-or-die in the span of a single moment when they were kids in an attempt to hide from their parents’ wrath after pulling a prank. Nowadays he was more busy with his princely duties and even though they had still kept in touch, she missed him. Besides, watching Audrey, Chad, and Ben dance around each other was hilarious, especially with an insider’s perspective. 

Her parents' voices continued in the background and she heard her mother say, “I hope the kids that they bring over don’t screw it up for the rest of them.”

“It’s not like it would be their fault.,” Dad replied. “They wouldn’t really know better.”

What. Did-Did they really just- Are they letting people off the Isle? Aziz’s grandfather might be able to come back too! Lonnie wondered about what the Isle kids would be like. Probably the exact opposite of what Auradon kids are like. Which would be a refreshing addition. Audrey wasn’t exactly the ignorant catty Auradon princess stereotype, but she still had some of the ignorance that came with being from a country that willingly came into the U.A. 

She hoped that they wouldn’t be too messed up from the Isle when they came to Auradon Prep. It’s not like villains were so evil that they’d hurt their own blood. They prized that more than anything else. If not out of love, they would’ve been kept safe because of that alone. 

\----

Jay’s unnaturally pale face outside her window wasn’t exactly the norm, but during the crisis that had sprung up the past two years, it wasn’t unusual either. Mal may not have known what happened, but Jay only showed up when shit was about to go down. She slipped out of her hammock connected to the two walls of her bedroom, and unlatched the window, motioning for him to talk. 

“The radio. When Carlos shot a hole in the barrier, it reformed almost a second later with a crack in it. And the radio that he was looking into picked up a signal from Auradon. Hurry up, it was still picking up static when I left, but according to Carlos he’s almost got it to get actual words.”

At those words, Mal grabbed her jack and jumped out of her window. She landed on the building next door’s highest windowsill, following Jay to the de Vil mansion. 

Once they got there, Carlos’s radio was sparking and the boy himself was next to it, a variety of recording equipment surrounding him, ready to pick up on the words that the machine was slowly picking up on. Evie was right there beside him, focused with the task at hand with giant headphones over her ears. With a blue flash, a stream of words in a squeaky voice came out of the machine. 

“Auradon Proposal… Isle kids M… d… are going to be brought off the Isle to … at the request of the Crown Prince…” 

A silence over took the room as the four of them locked eyes, pure disbelief in their eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’m not quite sure how I’m going to explain this in the story but the Descendents world is kind of like the United Kingdom? They have a bunch of different countries that fall under a set of universal rules. They have a sort of monarchy in place but that’s mostly like a figurehead position that has some power but not all. The fairy tales take place where the authors based them in. Like Agrabah and China aren’t a part of the United States of Auradon, but they’re close allies and certain characters are there, sort of like diplomats? Anyway, Auradon is a supercontinent like Afro-Eurasia so all of these countries are on the same continent. Places where stories are from the same place I’ll be making some of those families noble families under one king and queen. For instance the Charmings are nobles of high standing. The Sablé family (Audrey’s family) is ruling France and the Blumenthal family (Snow White’s) are ruling Germany. That’s how I’m dealing with the whole thing. I know some of the settings are like real life places so I’m making stuff up as I go because I don’t know the canon reason. Fictional countries are like their own countries for the most part. For the technology and stuff, it’s pretty much the same and actually gets somewhat addressed in the fic. Hope this was helpful! 
> 
> Also pidgins are like when two people don’t speak a language so they make their own using a mix of their native languages. Just in case you didn’t know! 
> 
> yeaaa, we made it through this entire chapter!!! anyway, give me concrit and please all the feedback you want! i crave validation from strangers who don't know anything about me! 
> 
> and check out my tumblr ----> https://nikhirin.tumblr.com/ for more of my bullshit while writing!!
> 
> ben when he's trying to fix the shitshow that is Auradon: can i please get a decent human being, pls
> 
> almost everybody else: no!! they're evil! can't you see that they're evil!! we might have made them evil, but it's too late to even take responsibility for our mistakes!!


	4. "here have some more problems" says the world, "godamn it" go the small angry children again, seemingly used to the world's bullshit.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mal decides to take over a country, some people get beat up, and parent are really shitty sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, i didn't die!! also sorry for the late update, i had ap tests, and then the muse deserted me. college board is horrible, and i had to write a part of my dbq on the toilet. 
> 
> there sadly is no claudine or wine aunt hades in this chapter, but they'll be there next chapter i swear!! in the meanwhile, enjoy your local idiots deciding to take over the country, god i finally got to this part. what even is this overdrawn out bullshit, i haven't even gotten to them getting to Auradon.
> 
> i've got no fanart for this fic rn, but i will be posting more on my tumblr in the future!!

Jay struggles awake, careful to not aggravate the freshly bandaged wounds that lurk on his back. He didn’t have the time to hit up Kai after the beating he took for the meager stash of stolen goods. It’s never enough, no matter what he brings back. The Big Score will forever be that, a vague idea that his father dreams of. A small buzz draws his attention to the small communicator that Carlos salvaged. 

_ i’ve got the recordings ready, drop by the burrow _

Jay responds quickly,  _ yea, i’ll grab ‘em after my morn rounds _

_ hurry up, the meeting is going to run long today _

_ yea yea, chill out pup, it’ll be fine _

_ whatever you say, ass _

He snorts at the snarky responses. Carlos seemed to be getting back his groove, it always took him a while to get back to normal after Cruella. Jay slipped out of his cot and grabbed his extra knives to slip into his bracers, it was always best to be over prepared on the Isle. When a crash from the shop beneath him sounded, announcing the presence of his father in the shop, Jay jumped out of a window, wanting to avoid interacting with his father early in the morning and delved into the crowds that made up the Marketplace. 

Different vendors, selling stolen dirty wares, shouted deals from across the streets, looking for targets to scam. The familiar odor of spoiled rotten food and fish wafted around, and Jay nonchalantly slunk through the crowd, casing different targets. He knew better than to steal from a big-shot before a meeting, Those sharks could smell out weakness from a while away, and exposing anything that could be used against him would change the balance quicker than he could nick a trinket off of one of the Gaston brothers. Everybody knew that the crews and territories that made up the Isle were dog eat dog, nobody truly trusted each other, keeping tentative allies instead. Jay supposed that he broke that rule by growing close to Mal, but it was something they never spoke of. His eyes lit up as he spotted a small untarnished object in a pirate’s dirty coat pocket. An adult was a slightly harder target, but this one looked to be drunk out of his mind. 

Jay slid by him, as casual as he could be, and snuck his hand quickly into her pocket, pushing the small bell into his bracer, next to his knives. When the pirate turned to look at him suspiciously, Jay raised a questioning eyebrow, and disappeared into the crowd. The brass bell that he had stolen was devoid of any scratches, but a small bit of rust littered the rim. All in all, a pretty good haul with the other things that he had stolen. Jay would have to go back out for his evening round if he wanted to get any extra for himself, but he had met his quota for today. Which sadly meant that he had to go to the de Vil household, the most avoided place on the Isle. Fuck that place honestly, he knew how much Carlos had suffered in that house, and while Jay knew how competent Carlos was, seeing the smaller boy hurting everyday put a dark look on his face. Cruella de Vil, on the other hand, he would kill without any remorse, and Jay would’ve if it didn’t mean that she would wake up right after with no soul to turn over to Hades. A shitty situation no matter how they tried to spin it. 

Jay began the trek to the mansion, leaping up and grabbing the side of a shop to maneuver himself onto the roof. The path that leads there is too hard to get there via alleyways, and besides Jay has always felt more at ease midair than anywhere else. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, he took the opportunity to steal a mildly rotten apple from a kid that was sitting on a fire escape. Biting into it, it’s flavorful juice dripped a little from his mouth, the muddy taste of mold tainting it’s flavor. He dropped the apple on the kid’s head, Jay had his fun, he wouldn’t stoop so low to steal from a baby. His skills were better than that. 

Sensing eyes watching him from below, he glanced in that direction. A small group of kids had gathered to watch him parkour through the haphazardly constructed shops that littered the Marketplace. Jay swings around the pole, using the momentum to jump to the next building, and what the hell, threw in a flip in for fun. The kids beneath him start clapping and Jay laughs, bows and swiftly makes a dramatic exit towards the de Vil home. Mal calls him an attention whore, and she’s right in every turn of the phrase. 

Stopping in the backyard of the mansion, he toes the small dirt pile covering the tarp that leads to Carlos’s hideout. Jay sweeps his eyes around to make sure no one’s watching and drops straight in. 

Carlos is sitting at his desk when he enters, sequestered away like one of the vultures that lurk around the edges of the de Vil mansion. Jay huffs out a quiet laugh at the sight of Carlos curled up, dark smears across his face and a smoke stack-like contraption on his lap. It repeatedly belches out smoke, and usually Jay wouldn’t be worried about the capabilities of the machine, but Carlos himself admitted that he made a bomb accidentally so… better safe than sorry and not actively hit him or the machine. Smirking Jay flicks a knife over to the half eaten wood that makes up the wall, the thud making Carlos startle and look up. 

“Holy shit. Can’t you do that bullshit when I’m not deal with somethin’ this dangerous?”

“Aww, you’re talking back again. I missed that smart mouth of yours.”

Carlos grumbles at the remark, the visible parts of his neck slightly pinker than it was before. He vaguely gestures to a stained cardboard box haphazardly shoved into a corner. “The recorders are in there, they can keep ‘em cause they’re just prototypes. Can’t hold much other than that snippet.”

“Alright,” Jay heads over to the corner, and rifles through the small heap of machines in the box. Thankfully, they aren’t that deep and are found without too much trouble. Pausing to wink at Carlos before he makes his exit, Jay notices the frown that’s carved onto Carlos’s face. The news that they uncovered last night was vital information. Carlos, the perceptive over thinker that he is, knows well that they have no clue what’ll change in the next week. After the initial burst of info, the radio announcer said something about the news being released to the Isle tomorrow. Which isn’t as soon as it may suggest. Time on the Isle is wonky. The addition of the Wonderland residents didn’t help that at all. So, instead of set days, people just hope for the best and move on with their lives. Well, more like people didn’t really care, with the anarchy that comprised the Isle. Hoping for something is like asking the gods to specifically spit into your face. Ideally though, the information would show up soon. Mal releasing the information immediately would curry some favor with the other heads, but it would also send them into a panic. And panicking heads aren’t a good thing for anybody on the Isle. 

Jay leaves as quickly as he arrived, possibilities whirling through his mind.

* * *

Fuck, Mal doesn’t know what to do. She’s supposed to be the one in charge, the one that has a set plan for the future. But this? This fuckery? She doesn't know how to deal with this. Isle politics are easy enough for her, because Mal grew up here, but Auradon? Auradon is filled with traps and mainlanders that are liable to do something that will kill all of them. It’s terrifying. Mal can’t admit it out loud, but she can do it here, hidden deeply in the small part of her that’s prone to panic. She doesn’t even know who they’re sending over. If it’s one of the heads, that disrupts the precarious balance of power that the Isle thrives on. It’ll topple the entire Isle into chaos. Not to mention the fact that the Isle is on the verge of destruction. The Isle itself wasn’t a permanent solution, Mal had guessed, years ago when the heads had first converged. There’s some sort of flaw within the barrier that allowed some magic inside, but it was mostly used up during the separation, the remnants of magic that remain are meager, barely enough to sustain themselves. 

Mal has dug her roots deep into the Isle, her people are here, her anchors to humanity. No way in Hades is she going to give all of them that easy. Desperation is a hell of a drug, and Mal is almost out of options.

A face at her window catches her attention quickly. Jay’s lingering out on her windowsill, carefully hidden tension stiffening up his body language. He shakes the recorders in his hand and drops onto the abandoned building below. Mal gets the message and follows him out. Her mother wouldn’t be happy to know about any of the shit that she gets up to, and she’s still a bit raw from Mother’s last ~~outburst~~ _ incident _ . 

“I’ve got the recordings,” Jay says. “Are you ready to go?”

“When am I not?,” Mal brushes by him.

“Touchy, touchy.”

“You’re just as wound up as I am,  zasranets.”

“Yea, but I’m not the one who’s showin’ ‘traits.”

Mal shoots a look at her companion at that. Jay simply flicks his eyes towards her nails, slightly thicker and longer, and her eyes. She flushes slightly before getting herself under control. Damn it, she’s supposed to be better at this Or at least good enough that she doesn’t show her traits in public. Snorting quietly at her reaction, Jay throws her one of the recordings, her reflexes making easy work of capturing them for herself.

“So what’s the plan boss? We’re pretty much screwed if you don’t have one.” He’s right. They are screwed if at least one of the Heads has somewhat of a plan for dealing with it. Mal’s has absolutely no idea what to do, but hey, faking it till you make it is technically a plan, right?  _ Right? _

“I’ve got something in the works.”

“That’s just a fancy way of sayin’ that you’ve got no clue.” She should’ve just left him in the dumpster where she found him. It wasn’t worth it. 

Mal doesn’t reply, opting to pick up the pace in lieu of an answer. He eyes her slightly, and then catches up. Picking their way quickly across rooftops, they make idle conversation, mostly teasing each other quietly. At one point, Jay shows off a bit with his athletic prowess, and she mockingly calls him an attention whore. 

They arrive at the trapdoor leading to the bunker too quickly, she wishes that there was some way to put it off, to stop time so that she wouldn’t have to tell the others about what happened last night. This is the catalyst. 

Pulling in a deep breath, Mal opens the door and jumps straight into the meeting room. 

“Wh-”

She cuts off Ace, “Carlos cracked the barrier.”

“Yes, we know that, Mal, thanks for the obvious.”

“No, Carlos put a permanent crack in the barrier. He opened up to us outside. Last night, he-he caught a signal from Auradon on his radio.”

“What!?,” they exclaim in surprise. Mal can see the looks of shock on their faces. She steels herself for their reaction when she reveals the information. 

“The signal was shitty, we barely heard anything. But what we did hear, it’s-it’s fuckin’ insane is what it is. Do not freak out on me okay? I’m as shaken up as you’re gonna be.”

“You’re stalling, Malice Faery. Play the recording.” Devilshire says in the silence, their words harsh with a poorly hidden anticipation. Mal bares her teeth at them, her spoken name increasing the tension in the room. The staticky voice of the announcer rings out in the room shortly after. 

Mal knew they were going to freak out, and  _ look at that _ she was right. The bunker erupts with noise, people in the room panicky and frantic. The touch of a hand settles on her shoulder, Mal bristles unconsciously but relaxes when she realizes who it belongs too. Jay’s good at comfort, surprisingly. Her gaze is swept back to the table at the sound of someone slamming their hands to the table. Ace stands there, suppressed panic in his eyes. 

“Alright, that was insane, you were right. But what the hell are we gonna do now. Y’all do realize the implications right? Multiple kids are gettin’ picked which means that us and our seconds could be sent off.” He spits out, briefly meeting the eyes of everybody in the room. 

“Everybody has their back-ups in place right?” Huang confirms. A round of agreements sound off. Claudine may be prone to panic, but she was steady in a crisis and would be fine, Mal’s reassured by that at least. 

“Okay, game plan time. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, we can use it to influence the mainlanders to let the kids and some of the adults off the Isle.”

Sighing in her head she voices the thought she had before, “There’s problems with that. First, Auradon is a wild card. We don’t know the rules there, what politics they got, what their lives are like. Second, are we really going to rely on  _ Auradonians,  _ the same people who stuck us here in the first place, to have enough sympathy to let us out? It might work, but the risk is too big for the slim chance at success.”

“Fuck you’re right.” Uma brushes a hand across her forehead. “There're magical ways to make them sympathetic to our cause though, a love potion would work if you could slip it into the King’s food?” Uma offers, wincing slightly at the glare she receives from Jay. 

“I’m against that one,” Jay declares. “You really want to mind rape the King? That’s just asking for trouble, and I’m uncomfortable that you even brought that up.” 

“Listen, we're strapped for ideas here. Mainlanders aren’t exactly known for complex moralities.”

“There's just manipulation, but I don’t think that it’ll work well considerin’ we don’t know who's going to the mainland in the first place.” Harry drawls out, having since relaxed, with his Head and maybe(?) girlfriend having calmed down, and is now precariously balanced on two chair legs. 

“Good point, but we’re desperate.” Kai says, as bitingly sarcastic as a caught thieving wharf rat.

“What would we even do in Auradon?” Huang wonders aloud. “We’re too fucked up to live in Auradon peacefully, and there’s too many of us for us to be adopted. What are they even accomplishing by bringing us over so late.”

That’s something Mal hadn’t even thought of, caught up in the obstacles that she had to clear in the present.  _ What would they do  _ in _ Auradon?  _ It’s unlikely that they would be adopted in the first place because of their parents, so did the mainlanders expect them to peacefully go along with whatever plan they had? Maybe if they had-what if they had their own place? Their own country, where they could govern it how they did the Isle. From the lack of a reaction from Mother, who loved to extol about the heroes’ grievances against her, the Moors probably still obeyed her, and the birthright would pass onto her with the death of her mother. It would be free space. They could inhabit it and be  _ safe _ . It was close to the shoreline, making Uma’s people happy. It would be perfect, if the likelihood of it happening wasn’t so minuscule. But, they  _ were  _ desperate, so it wouldn’t hurt to voice it anyway. 

“What-,” Her voice cut through the continued argument. “What if we didn’t stay in Auradon exactly.”

“Would that even work?,” Harry said, turning to face her, his skepticism clear. “We’re being taken to the Mainland, and they’re not going to let us go easily.”

“I am  _ technically _ next in line to inherit the Moors, as the rite of ownership belongs to my mother. If she were to give it up, and I was the ruler, there would be a safe space. It’s probably under the rule of France currently, but  _ it’s  _ not _ theirs _ . If we managed to get it away from them and inhabit it ourselves, it-it would be...” Mal trails off, her point made.

It was so quiet that you could drop a pin, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Visible surprise was blatant on each of their faces, the shock of such a statement large enough to overcome the ingrained habit of concealing their emotions. The spiteful creature that made up a majority of Mal, smirked and cackled at causing such a state, but a lifelong habitual pokerface won out. 

“It wou-that would work. We could set up some device for communication between Auradon and the Isle, and if that fails we can just forcefully take over the Moors considering that the land would obey you,” Uma said, barely concealed glee in her voice ramping up as she followed Mal’s train of thought. “And if that doesn’t work, well, we could always go back to my original plan.”

Devilshire raises their voice, “All in favor of the plan say aye.”

“Wait,” Ace interrupts. “We need to get the actual plan in order. The group that goes to Auradon is supposed to set up communications to the Isle where we can relay information about the Moors to Auradon where they should either give it up or we pillage them. Those kids should also befriend the Mainlanders in order to get them to be more sympathetic, and use as much manipulation as necessary. Also, backups? Those are necessa-.”

Raising his voice from the back of the room, Kai raises his voice, cutting off Ace in the process, “How’re we going to get the kids off the Isle. The adult’ll see a choice and fucking bolt, not caring who gets caught up in their bullshit.” 

“We can decide that while the group is in Auradon,” Huang speaks. “It’s not the biggest priority, and this meeting has lasted, what five hours? Right now we just need a basic plan cemented.”

Mal nods at him, and then speaks her aye to the rest of the room, a collection of voices echoing it. Slumping down slightly in relief, she relaxes the smallest amount. They had a plan in place, and even if it didn’t work out they had a way out of the Isle. It was going to be okay. They were finally  _ getting out of this hellhole _ , and Mal would be able to visit Mother’s homeland. It was a win-win scenario in her opinion and she could always use more of tho-

Dropping to her knees as excruciating pain races through her arm, Jay struck with the same pain, Mal panics, only one thought left in her mind. 

_ A threat to her hoard.  _

She bursts out of the bunker and takes off, her second behind her, not bothering to respond to the questions that follow her out the door.

  
  


* * *

The thing about fear, is that it lurks in the marrow of your bones, an ever present force that remains dormant. It’s a tool for survival on the Isle. Carlos has never known what it is like not to be afraid. To not look behind his back, and fear the worst. It’s what has kept him alive all these years, and it won’t change anytime soon. But now, that fear is exemplified with the low-life drunken scum that litter Gaston’s bar. Carlos knew  _ better dammit _ , he was always careful to keep off this street, rather than chance the fact that one of the men might see him as an easy target. 

Knowing you’re easy prey is one thing, experiencing it is another. He’s glad that he managed to get the younger kids away fast enough, that he saved them from that. The wall behind him scratches as he bangs his shin against it, activating the tattoo that links him to Mal. Pain whites out his eyes for a moment, and he bites his cheek to keep himself awake. If this is going to happen again, Carlos is going out fighting this time. Death is only temporary on the Isle after all, and he’s sure that these fuckers aren’t necrophiliacs.  _ Pretty sure  _ anyway, who knows with the sick fucks that reside in the Isle. Widening his stance, Carlos snarls, threatening canines bared in what could be considered a smile by only the Isle’s resident Wonderlandians. The bandages on his legs become slick on his leg, the earlier action tearing up some of his stitches. 

“Oh ho~, pretty boy here has teeth. You gonna call your little friends to pick up the pieces when we’re done with you?” The man’s rotted teeth flash in a leering mouth, his stinking breath burning Carlos’s nose. 

He comes closer, face hovering over Carlos’s own, hands clenched around Carlos’s waist, pinning him to the wall. Waiting for the man to get just a little bit closer-  _ right there  _ Carlos slams his head against other man’s, hard enough to hear a wet crack. Advantages are always hard to come by, so he bucks his leg up, hitting the man square in between his legs. Satisfaction courses through him as he sees the man reel back and collapse, hand clutched to his bloody nose. Pin-pricks of pain sprout from the movement of his arm, the cigarette burns from his day with Mother making themselves known. In his distraction a buff woman in the group reels around to hit him square in the eye, catching him unaware and spitting on him as he staggers. 

“Think you’re tough shit, do’ya. Pathetic, a scrawny runt like you would be better off pleasing your elders rather than fighting back. It’ll be good,” at that she tilts her head, cackling as she says the last part. “For us at least.”

Carlos steadies himself on the group, hyping himself up to finally say something back when a shadow passes overhead. The images of Mal, Evie, and Jay blur as they enter the alleyway. Taking in a quick headcount, he suppresses a groan at the numbers stacked against them. Gaston’s cronies are against them 2 to 1. There’s no way that they’re getting out of this without at least one of them beaten to Hades and back. 

Mal immediately crashes into one of the men, tackling him to the ground, her dyed purple hair flying like a banner behind her. Her eyes glow with an unearthly green, Carlos found a familiar comfort in that, knowing the last time he had called on their bond had ended much worse for his assailants. Ducking around the first woman, Jay sweeps his feet across the rough pavement, throwing  _ fuckithe’scallingherMuscles _ to the ground, and getting a knife thrown at his eye in retaliation. He barely manages to duck, the knife glancing off the side of Jay’s face, leaving a dripping slash across his cheekbone. Carlos himself goes to knock out the man that he hit before, making sure that he’s out for the count. Evie brushes next to him in silent comfort and catches the bloodied knife that Jay throws at her, only to pierce through the hand of man attempting to hit her from behind.

A hand comes crawling around her throat, the man lifting her up with his right arm, Evie struggling for air, desperately trying to pry it off. Carlos grabs the knife pinning the man to aim for his eye, driving the knife deep into his skull when he hits his target. Blood blinds him for a moment, as Evie’s released into the wall, the cacophony behind him growing as Mal and Jay make their way through the crowd. His knee buckles and Evie helps him to the floor, leaving him with a stiletto in hand to deal with the rest of Gaston’s drunken employees. 

It’s quick work from there on out. In the end, from what he can see from the eye that isn’t swollen shut, Mal’s nose is broken, her fat lip shiny with blood and leaning on Jay, whose face is smeared with blood from his facial wound and the split lip that he gained. Evie’s bloodied, her nails caked with blood, strangulation marks marring her tan throat, and a bruise turning her skin dark colors. 

Wiping the blood dripping from her nose, Mal nasally declares, “Nearest safe-house, we’re getting cleaned up.” Which is probably the best idea, he’s already ripped his stitches, and at least he’ll have moonshine to numb the pain when he fixes them. 

They limp their way to one of the empty safe houses they stocked with basic necessities, it’s not the loft, but it’ll do. Once they arrive at the doors, Evie makes her way towards the slightly stained bandages neatly folded in the corner of the room and manhandles Jay and him to sit on the cot. Mal shoots Jay a look, and they exchange some sort of conversation that Carlos can only understand glimpses of. Eventually, Jay sighs and peels off his vest, his lip turning more red with his teeth sinking into it to suppress the reaction to the pain he’s in. On his chest stretching to his back is a deep cut made from one of the weapons that must have struck him earlier. Evie tuts, and grabs the moonshine, pouring some on the needle and hands the flask to Jay, who knocks it back with a slight wince. 

While Jay gets stitched up, Mal turns her attention to him, and motions for Carlos to show the damage he took. His jacket mainly cushioned his back when he got slammed against it earlier, but the pain that he was ignoring in his leg flares up. 

Rolling up his pant leg, Carlos reveals the split skin and the broken stitches embedded into his skin. He also removes his jacket, the dalmation print dirty from the contact with the wall. A shame considering the effort that Claudine had gone to gather the fabric. The little burns on his arms fade into his dark skin tone, but Mal’s eyes flare with green light, her Other traits picking them up easily. She reaches for the torn cloth to wrap it around his arms as a bandage after smearing a salve onto them. Carlos’s black eye and torn stitches are similarly handled. They patch themselves up in silence, an unspoken routine that they are loath to break until each one of them is taken care of. 

In the process of taking care of Carlos, Mal glares at his scrapes, reminding him of a time that was far worse than this, when he was smaller and Mal’s crew was still a group of vague allies. They got to him in time, today, but there were times where they didn’t. It happened to the others too, but… You don’t really talk about it on the Isle, you just bury it deep deep inside of yourself in a small box where you stuff all of your unwanted memories, until the time comes when you are safe enough to break down and put yourself back together. That time’s never quite hit for him, but Carlos has weathered worse than this, and he’ll survive it all just the same. 

Evie grabs Mal when she’s done sewing up Jay. Cleaning up her nose and snapping it back into place with a sick crack that echoes in the quiet. Jay sidles up next to Carlos, his movements shallow and soundless, pulling Carlos into his lap and wrapping his arms around him in an enveloping hug. His face heats up when Jay rests his chin on Carlos’s head, which is dumb considering how tactile Jay is. He should be used to it at this point with Carlos’s touch aversion abated with people he trusts. Resolving to think about it later, he watches as Mal unscrews a flask and takes a gulp of the moonshine inside. Odd. What happened at the meeting to let her unwind that much? Because as far as Carlos could see, the situation they were in was supremely fucked up with no options available. 

Evie clears her throat, “So… what happened at the meeting? Is there a plan?”

Mal smirks and Carlos can feel Jay’s chest rumble as he snickers. So, a good thing happened? A plan’s definitely been worked out if those assholes are this smug, so he releases a relieved shallow breath. 

“Y’all know about the Moors right? My mother is currently the protector of them, which means that I’m next in line. It’ll legally belong to me since my mother…” Carlos watches Mal struggle with the unfortunate truth of Maleficent’s insanity. It’s common knowledge, but Mal is fiercely protective of her family and accepting that means that she’ll have to come to terms with the fact that Maleficent doesn’t give a single shit about her. Carlos’s lucky in that way, with any delusions of parental love long since beaten out of him. “She’s a little bit-she’s mentally unfit to be in that role, so instead it would pass to me.”

Evie nudges her in the side, and Mal, after gathering her wits about her, continues. “So, when whoever goes to Auradon goes there, they’ll set up communication with us. I can prove my inheritance to the Moors, and they’re already planning on letting all of us get off the Isle. So, we can  _ live there.  _ It can be a home, it’s in the perfect place too. The people who get sent over have to befriend or manipulate their way into the mainlander’s trust, and then we’re good.”

His eyes widen. That’s a pretty big stretch, like a _huge_ stretch to make. What’re the chances that  _ mainlanders _ are going to trust them? Seriously. Evie voices the thought for him, and Mal’s smirk deepens, turning more smug than he thought was possible. “Then we go for Uma’s plan, but we end up in the Moors anyway. The land will respond to me, no matter who says that they govern over it.”

Beside Mal, Evie starts giggling, the noise bright and clear. Though them she manages to get out, “That is probably the wildest fucking plan that you’ve ever come up with. You want to take over a country, Mal? I-”

At her words, Carlos starts laughing too, the true absurdity that was their game plan washing over him. He can see the exact moment that it hits Mal and Jay, and they dissolve into laughter as well. It might have a hysterical tint to it, but who's going to tell. 

They spend a while in the safe-house, discussing the minute details of the plan, and their backups on the Isle if they go to Auradon. Deciding on telling Cassim, Nasira, and Hades among the adults, and give the news to Claudine about spreading the news through Lost. Reluctantly, Mal conceded to the fact that the rest of the Isle has to be informed as well, and agrees to inform the Sirens. They’ll distribute it fast, considering that they’re the premier place for information brokers, and they’ve got a soft spot for kids. 

Carlos dozes off slightly, falling into the light sleep that he’s trained himself to go into. There’s no telling how much time has passed when Jay shakes him awake, telling him that they’re heading back to their houses, instead of piling together in a puppy pile comfortable pile. Slightly disappointed, Carlos checks his injuries and starts the trek back home, dread pooling in his stomach like acid eating through his insides. He stops in front of the main doors, rapidly changing his mind, because  _ fuck that _ , he’s a coward, and sneaks in his window only to freeze at the sight of a vulture swooping over his head.  _ Fuck _ , Mother knows. Carlos climbs through his window to find Mother standing there, a furious snarl on her face, the small light source from the door illuminating her figure dramatically. The room is in ruins, parts of the wall ripped out, drawers ransacked, their contents lying broken and shattered on the floor. 

A very small part of himself held back only barely by the vague self-control that he had, rolled his eyes. Typical for her to overreact that bad, Carlos didn’t even care about the potential damage she could inflict on his already battered body. This was the same old song and dance that he had been through too many times. Now, he just wanted it to be over so he could continue with his life.  When had that changed? Last week, Carlos was still scared out of his mind from his mother’s outbursts, but now. Now,  _ he had a way out.  _

* * *

The racket from the midnight market was a comforting sound for Jay, the only sense of familiar comfort that he could latch onto in this moment. Jafar’s outbursts weren’t surprising after spending seventeen years in his presence, but they never failed to make him feel small. He flinched back interceptably when Jafar grabbed him by the throat, emphasizing whatever he was saying. Jay had already retreated into his mind, into a place where Jafar could never drag him out of. He felt floaty and far away, only managing to catch small glimpses of what Jafar was saying. 

“-n opportunity that you cannot afford to miss, you useless waste of space. I will beat you raw, if you come back empty handed, you hear me?” Jafar’s words slowly became more menacing as he spoke. Right, it was- it was about the Auradon Proposal, they had been chosen, and were tasked with getting their parents off the Isle. That’s totally reasonable right? Completely achievable, Jay’s hysteria grew as Jafar continued. Fuck, they’re screwed, Jay assumed that the kids wouldn’t be all allied together or the kids of the most dangerous villains or at least one of the main crews on the Isle, but that what he gets for hoping. He was practically asking to be spat on with that attitude. A waste of space, only good for the moments when he was useful. No wonder Mal kept him around, he was helpful enough to smooth her obstacles down. It was stupid to think that she had some other attachment to him outside of that. Carlos and Evie were doing the same, his abilities could only overpower his faults so much before Jay screwed up again. 

  
“I should have had you sold off-” A thrill of fear goes down his spine at Jafar’s words. ”-ade up for the costs of you living here, I suppose-”

Calm, he should be calm and collected, it was going to be  _ fine.  _ They had a plan, a way to get out, and their parents couldn’t get them in Auradon. 

* * *

The plan wasn’t going to hold up, Evie had her doubts but under her mother’s seething commentary she knew it to be a fact. Sympathy? Auradon hailed themselves to be the morally righteous people that have graced the surface of the Earth. They had no time to waste empathizing with the whelp of the people they claimed to be the lowest of the low. Evie knew this all too well. 

“So, you understand what I’m going through here don’t you? How will people react to seeing the disgusting creature that I created? You’re not even fully human. This is the only way for you to redeem yourself, my dear.” Mother’s vicious commentary was hidden beneath a sickly sweet tone, as it always was. She was right, Evie was disgusting and inhuman despite how hard she hid evidence of her dead dryad father. No one knew, so she had to be doing a good job, right? Nothing was ever enough with Mother, however. 

Mother continued, “Bringing the wand back lets me turn you human! It allows me to erase all of your despicable flaws, and you would be able to catch yourself a wonderful prince who would make you Queen. Won’t that be wonderful, Evie?” Her eyes bored into Evie, daring her to say otherwise.

Ah, yes. Marrying a prince would be the ultimate success, it wasn’t like that would lead to Mother’s downfall. Like any man would find her attractive anyway, with her Other traits. Besides, Evie’s standards were so high that she barely found any men on the Isle to be remotely appealing. Only a prince could satisfy her, and going to Auradon would be the perfect opportunity. Evie had her own dreams and aspirations outside of that of course, but it didn’t hurt that she’d found the perfect hunting grounds. 

Marrying a prince would cement her future and create alliance opportunities for the new life that they sought to create in the Moors. The perfect ending to her story. She didn’t need the wand to get her a man, her mother had taught her enough that Evie could present all of her good qualities easily enough. 

_Right?_ The lingering feeling that she had whenever Mal brushed against her, were disgusting, Mother could sense in on her like the bloodhounds that Gaston held feral in his home. Evie would find herself a weak-willed prince, that she could manipulate into helping her. ~~It didn't matter how she lit up when Mal smiled at her, or the butterflies that erupted in her when Mal touched her.~~ Love was weakness, and loving women? Her mother would never stand for it. 

* * *

Mal is fucking panicking, she’s the one with the plan, but sometimes shit goes spectacularly wrong in such buckwild ways that Mal’s caught off guard. Seriously, she is  _ oh so very tired _ of Auradonian bullshit messing up her life. The plan that her mother left her with in the midst of a screaming fit, is reasonable, if you were desperate, but Mal has a little bit more tact than that. 

But seriously? This would mess up the Isle  _ badly _ . Claudine was suggested as a replacement, but she was a little bit insane and prone to panic even on her good days. Mal didn’t blame her, she would be a little feral if she had to deal with Frollo on a day to day basis, 

She scrunched her hair into her hands, infuriated at the problems faced before her. The Isle situation was one that she hoped would never happen, but contingency plans existed for a reason right? Sighing, she climbed her way up to her cot, slipping into the small haven that she had created in the castle. 

Tomorrow, Mal would get her shit in order and fix the shit that happened, but for now she just wanted to wallow in her self-pity, and attempt to heal her re-broken nose. Mother had ripped the bandage off, proclaiming that strength grew from pain, and rebroke it. Not that it was healed in the first place. On top of that she had stuck the magic dampening chains onto her still raw wrists. The pain of her nose was diminished due to the agony of her bottled up magic. Isle kids weren’t allowed to practice magic, or express it at all really, but they could hold the magic outside their skin or on their clothing so that it wouldn’t all be held inside of them. A painful process, to say the least. Mother claimed that it would increase the potency of her magic. It worked most of the time, but Mal was too  _ weak.  _ It was hard to handle the pain and go on with her life, so it happened most nights instead. If she was better,  _ stronger _ , her mother wouldn’t have to deal with a disgraceful half-human daughter.

Her plan would work ~~it had to~~ she just had to keep the Isle together long enough for her to save it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again i'm very sorry for the delay, but that chapter is 6k to make up for it,,, so. anyway, give me concrit and please all the feedback you want! i crave validation from strangers who don't know anything about me!
> 
> and check out my tumblr ----> https://nikhirin.tumblr.com/ for more of my bullshit while writing!!
> 
> mal thinking she's totally reasonable: im going to take over a country
> 
> the rest of the Isle: is she allowed to do that, i don't think she's allowed to do that. how did she even come to that conclusion???


	5. the small angry children make plans, and scheme for their revenge against the world.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gang talks to their people and prepares for their impending trip to auradon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy, i'm not dead. and i'm definitely not procrastinating on working on this fic! 
> 
> anyway i figured this could be a little christmas treat filler chapter. i have like 5 more chapters in queue so,,, there will be more chapters to come. this fic is not abandoned! i don't think i'll ever quite abandon it because it's a lot of fun to write!! plus there might be some illustrations coming with them too! so look forward to that in the coming weeks. i think i'll start an update schedule again, but who knows if i'll actually stick to it this time.

Mal muscled her way through the morning crowds in the Marketplace, a scowl firmly fixed on her face at the height difference between her and the rest of the crowd. Fuck her human dad honestly, Mother was a good 6’0, and Mal  _ would  _ be the same if it wasn’t for his shitty human genetics. Finding Claudine in the Marketplace was a harder task than she originally estimated when they divvied up the tasks this morning. Mal’s patience was on the verge of snapping. The others were probably finding their tasks to be easier, save for Carlos who had the unfortunate duty of being saddled with telling the other heads who exactly would be going to the Isle. Evie and Jay on the other hand had pretty easy jobs. Jay was in charge of the former Agrabah residents, Cassim and Nasira, as they both held a soft spot for him, plus that meant that Jay could say goodbye to Jade while he was at it. The Siren’s were fond of almost all of the kids on the Isle, but Evie was usually the one who dealt with them. They found her flirtatious nature amusing, as far as Mal could tell. 

Glimpsing a bright patchwork shawl from the corner of her eye, Mal sped up.  _ Finally! _ And when the man in front of her slowed down in disagreement of her speed, she neatly kicked in the back of his knees, and leapt over him.  _ Served him right _ , she thought viciously. In the process of the motion, she managed to grab the shawl, alerting Claudine to her presence. Wide amber eyes met her own, and Mal jerked her chin impatiently towards a nearby alleyway, a rickety fire escape gracing the abandoned warehouse next door. With confusion in her eyes, Claudine dragged Mal through the crowd. They made their way on the fire escape, Mal resting her forearms on the railing that Claudine was balancing her weight on. Just like her to find the place with the most exits. 

“So, what does our fearless leader need from me? I was under the assumption that y’all were tryin’ ta’ have some sorta back up plan for the bullshittery that the mainlanders are putting us through.” Claudine gestured. 

How to put this simply and not scare off the twitchy person in front of her.  _ Eh, fuck it, I can grab her if she runs.  _ “Yea, ya’ see… the mainlanders are pulling my crew out, which means that no one’s gonna take care of Lost’s borders when I’m gone.” Mal spread her hands wide. “You’re next in line, asshole.” 

Claudine leapt to her feet, spitting out her next words. “Are you fuckin’ crazy? Lost isn’t gonna listen to me! I’m the resident fuck up who can’t even kill their dad.” 

“And if we kill your father?”

“You would do that?,” Claudine whirls around, the action aggressive, but her words come out soft and deadly.

Squarely meeting her eyes, Mal says, “Yes.”

Claudine is the first one to look away, she takes a deep breath to seemly steady herself and settles down to her former position. She takes a quick glance up at Mal, and her eyes fixate on the floor as she begins to say something? 

“Y’know how gender’s a social construct?”

“Yes?,” Mal says, lilting up the end of the word like a question. 

“So, I’m not-I don’t-Fuck-”

“Spit it out Claudine, I’m not gonna murder you when I still need you for something.”

“I’m not a girl!” she(they?) blurt out. When all Mal does is blink confusedly at her, they(?) elaborate. “I’ve never really felt like a girl, or maybe like I’m slightly disconnected from my gender? Anyway, I’m not a girl, and I’m kinda sure that I’m not a boy?” Claudine(?) winces slightly at the end of their(?) rambling pseudo-speech.

Oh. Well, that’s not that big of a deal, but Mal isn’t going to voice that out loud to someone as nervous as the one in front of her. 

“That’s fine, Cl-What do you want me to call you instead? Like pronouns and shit.” 

Clearly a little flabbergasted by the easy response, they(?) perk up, “O-Oh! Umm, they/them and uhh call me Clay?”

Mal tilts her head a bit, looking at Clau-Clay’s brown skin, flyway messy hair, and bright patchwork clothing. It fits better than he-their deadname ever did. 

Shaking their head to bring themself back to their current situation, Clay speaks up, “What were the plans, the backup ones too if I have to take care of Lost when you’re gone.”

Sighing, Mal rests her weight back onto her arms. “To begin with, you’re gonna have some adults to help you out. Namely, Cassim and Nasira. They’re bastards but they’re handy in a tough spot. Like I said before my entire crew is getting shipped out. Lost mainly takes care of itself, the border brats are good at taking care of their territory. What you need to do is take care of the shit when someone asks for help. Pull as many favors that you can. Lost is never stable anyway, so just make sure it’s still standing when we come back.”

Clay’s sharp eyes never stray from her face as they take in the information. Nodding as a signal for Mal to go on, they start drumming their fingers on the concrete of the rough brick wall. They’ll be just fine if they can manage to keep themselves focused the entire time. “For what we’ll be doing in Auradon? We’re setting up connections with Auradon so when I claim the Moors for myself, I can get the mainlanders to give it up without too big of a fight.”

“The-the  _ Moors!? Mal are you talking about a whole fuckin’ country here? _ ”

Ah, so everyone’s going to react that way. At least it’s amusing to see people lose their shit when Mall tells them. 

“Yea, are you saying that I can’t do it?” Mal intones quietly, a warning hidden in her voice. 

“No-I would never! But-that’s just like you actually,” Clay snickers. “I don’t know what I expected.”

“You didn’t expect anything, I’m just outta your league.”

“Mmm, sure.”

“Anyway, if the adults catch hold that we’re getting off the Isle, they’re going to want to come too. So, you’ve got ‘ta get the babies to the safehouses,” Mal reaches into her pocket for a piece of paper, and pushes it into Clay’s hands. “It’s a map of where they are and the inventory for them.”

“We’re getting off the Isle?,” the hope in their voice is barely disguised and Clay turns to face her. 

“Lost is made up of shitheads. Bigshots. To keep a lid on it, you have to be powerful, or useful enough that they can’t afford to make an enemy out of you. That’s why I’ve kept my position for so long.” Mal continues, slightly uncomfortable with the vulnerability in their voice, and blatantly ignoring Clay’s hopeful question. “The other thing is Ace’s vendetta.”

Clay startles at that. Mal huffs in response, Ace’s vendetta is hot gossip among most of the Isle. 

Hair is important on the Isle. The higher on the rankings, the longer your hair is. It’s half a taunt and half evidence of your position. It makes sense that cutting it off is just as big of a deal. Mal’s half shaved head is her way of declaring vengeance on the world, but shaving off all of your hair means stating vendetta. Which is an Auradonian way of saying that it’s akin to declaring war onto one person. And no one knows who Ace’s vendetta is against. Not even the other heads. 

“Who-”

Mal cuts them off. “I don’t know who they are. But, there's a chance that they’re in Lost. If Ace comes sniffin’ around, let him in. There’s not much you need to know outside of that.”

They hum in acknowledgement, and Clay says, “I almost forgot! Tell Jay that since I’ve got ink, I can give him his touch-ups before he leaves today.”

Mal nods, and moves to vault over the railing before she feels a hand on her arm. Snarling, she turns to tear Clay a new one only to find herself nose-to-nose with their grinning face. They move to touch their forehead to hers, freezing her in place. “I’ll miss you,” they mutter. Mal suppresses a fond sigh, it’s just like them to tear through the unwritten rule against emotions. 

She leaves with a soft  _ same _ , a small smile fixed on her face that she’d deny having to her last breath. Having a sibling is foreign idea to her, but Mal thinks that this is what it would feel like. 

\---

Evie meanders through the sloping streets of the port. The harsh ocean wind ruffles her long hair, annoying her enough that she ties it back neatly. It fits her mood, considering that whenever she enters the harbor Evie’s usually somewhat murderous. Uma loves her people, but she cannot change the fact that most of the wharf rats are horny bastards, so long that it doesn’t interfere with their duties of course. 

And when the first catcall hits the air, vulgar and scathing undertone underneath, she doesn’t hesitate to slam her heel into the rat’s crotch. The sound of his retching is music to Evie’s ears, and already she feels so much better. Isn’t it amazing what crushing something so small can do to help your mood?

Snorting internally at her joke, she approaches the ferry that’s docked at the harbor. Her piercing whistle alerts the small crew to her presence, a dark head popping up almost immediately from where it’s tucked underneath a billowing sail. A cheerful greeting sounds out as Liu makes her way down to her, nimbly making her way down the rope ladder that she was perched on, a cocky smirk firmly fixed on her face. Evie grins at her appearance and goes to clasp her forearm in a greeting only for Liu to twist her hand so she can press a kiss on the back of her hand. Evie laughs, the sound startled out of her. She had forgotten just how forward that the other girl could be. 

“How’s my favorite princess doing, Princess?,” Liu lilts out. “And what can I do for her?”

Evie waves her hand in a nonchalant gesture. “You know, the usual. Anyway, I’m headed towards the Siren’s Den! You wouldn’t mind taking me there right?” At this she jokingly pouts her lip and assumes a vague impression of a puppy. 

Liu laughs at her, the sound boisterous and infective, and waves her onboard. 

It’s almost impossible not to have good relations with Liu, Shan Yu’s daughter and Huang’s younger sister. Everyone knows that Huang’s just a placeholder, the man would prefer to take care of his strays rather than manage the ever-volatile Isle for Hades’ sake. If things  _ had _ proceeded normally, Liu would’ve been a Head. Evie’s a little sad that she couldn’t witness it, but opportunities are opportunities, and she’s never been one to let them pass her by. Liu’s flirting is easy to deal with as ever, the easy give-and-take relaxing. 

(She doesn’t provoke the same reaction that Mal does, but it’s easier to ignore the screeching of her mother when Evie’s actual feelings aren’t involved. She wishes that she could just fuck Mal and get it over with, but even her occasional vivid dreams never make her blush as hard as her fantasies of holding Mal’s hand or pushing a flower into her hair.)

Soon enough Liu disappears to help out with the rigging, and Evie sags into her seat content to watch the scenery as they near Sunken. 

Sunken is a pretty good example of the weird shit that happens on the Isle. Ursula claimed almost the entire thing as her domain, and most of the “evil” sea creatures lurk down there. The only reason that people venture down there, is for the Siren’s Den. Evie’s seen as a sort of cute amateur there. Jay gets the same treatment honestly, but Evie’s better at weaseling away information. Only Ace’s casino gets the same amount of business, but at the Siren’s Den you’re more likely to get murdered. Evie doesn’t kinkshame, but… 

Startled out of her thoughts by a tap on the shoulder by Liu, Evie gets up to her feet and steels herself against the nauseating sensation of being sucked into the whirlpool that drops them straight into the Siren’s Den. The last thing she sees is Liu waking at her before the rushing water blocks her sight. 

\---

When Evie comes to, her hair hides most of the vision of a small dark skinned girl with light gauzy material draped all over her. Mie raises an eyebrow, seeming to notice Evie’s gaze. Lightly dropping off of the perch that she was draped off, she poked Evie on the forehead. 

“Sleeping Beauty’s finally awake it seems.”

Evie splutters, a flush filling her cheeks. “What-Why would you even, why would you even compare us?”

“Pretty girls aren’t just a mainlander thing, princess.” Mie humms out, only to be interrupted by a tall blonde man tapping her lightly in reprimand. 

“What did I say about flirting with non-customers?” Louis raises an eyebrow as Mie pouts. She curls back onto her perch and appears to go back to sleep. Looking to Evie, he lights up. “Darling, why didn’t send word that you were coming! I never see you these days. What’re you here for?”

Louis and Mie make up a small part of the Sirens that take care of the background tasks that running an establishment like the Siren’s Den demands. Prostitution is as classy as they can make it on the Isle, and every kid on the Isle knows that pissing them off is a ticket straight to  _ you’re fucked _ town. Dealing with information also means that they’re strictly neutral during disputes. Which makes it hard to ask them to pick a side when they finally get off the Isle. 

“I learned something that I thought you might find to be interesting. Don’t mind me though, it can be postponed if you’re too busy.”

Louis’s eyes narrow at her phrasing. “Of course, sweetling. The lounge is pretty crowded this time of day, but I’m sure that the others will pay you no mind.”

Score. He realized Evie had a bomb to drop. It was always easier to subterfuge with people who knew what they were doing. Evie smiles brightly, picture perfect, and hums an agreement. 

Mie follows them to the room, and when they arrive she slides down next to the door, body language loose and eyes sharp. 

\---

Jay ducks around a corner to lose the idiots that thought he would make an easy target. For some reason, adults always thought that people younger than them were weaker. Beating them would be easy, but Jay would lose precious time needed to deal with the few reasonable adults on the Isle. 

A small smirk crept onto his face as he leapt up towards the window ledge that was just out of his reach, the idiots below him confusedly looking around. People forgot to look up, and that was where Jay always was. Ignorance is bliss, especially when you’re the scammer and not the scam-ee. He makes his way carefully towards the small apartment building that Cassim and Nasira usually inhabit. The apartments inside are shoddy and run-down, but then again what isn’t on the Isle. It rankles a bit though, to see the once great Bandit King reduced to such circumstances. 

Using the creaky roof to his advantage, Jay bounces to the brick building next door and digs his fingers into the molding grout in between the bricks. Moving from there, the leverage applied to the roof should propel him just enough to- There! 

Balancing carefully on the small balcony that Cassim installed, Jay peeks inside the dusty curtains. The noises of cooking(?) grab his attention quickly, and the sight of Cassim done up in an apron that says ‘Kiss Your Resident Overthrown King’ is enough to send Jay into snickers, giving away his location. Nasira lounges on the couch, presumably asleep with Jade sprawled out on top of her. Cassim whirls around at the sound and almost falls into a defensive stance before sighing at the familiar sight of Jay on his balcony. 

“What now, problem child.” He turns back around to his food mixing the spicy-smelling curry around. 

Finally gathering himself, Jay lets himself in, briefly making a face at the dirty curtains leaving a mysteriously sticky substance on his fingertips. “Old man, you could’ve told me you were cooking, I would've come over as soon as possible.”

“I thought that eating my own food without any insolent gremlins coming in to steal it would be a nice gift for myself today.”

“How rude! I never steal.” Throwing a quick wink, Jay sneaks around Cassim to dip a finger into the mixture, only to get a smack on the back of his head from Cassim’s ladle. He dances backwards, hands raised up in mock surrender before dropping the facade. 

Cassim tenses quickly and relaxes just as fast at the change in Jay’s body language. “What happened, kid.”

“Y’know about the Auradon Proposal right? It should’ve spread far enough to reach you.”

Quizzically tilting his head, as if silently asking about the connection between the new topic and the tension in the air, Cassim nods. 

Jay takes in a deep breath. “Me, Evie, Carlos, and Mal are being sent over. Our parents want us to steal the Fairy Godmother’s wand and take down the barrier so that they can escape. Mal wants to take over the Moors and convert them into a place where we can hide the Isle kids.”

Cassim drops the ladle. Nasira startles awake at the noise. 

“What the fuck, Jay. Mal- Mal wants to take over a  _ country _ ?! I always knew you brats were crazy,  _ but- _ ”

Smacking her lips together, Nasira lifts herself up from her position and maneuvers Jade so that she can still comfortably sleep in the meanwhile. “What did they do?”

“The idiot crew is getting shipped to Auradon-” At those words, Nasira jerks up and swivels her head to stare at Jay, bewilderment in the twist of her body. “-and is taking over a small country to evacuate the Isle kids to. 

“ _ The idiot crew is getting shipped to Auradon, and is taking over a country to move the Isle kids to.  _ That is the stupidest goddamned thing I have ever heard. What? And I will not stress this enough. The Fuck?”

“It makes sense!” Cassim and Nasira look skeptical at the declaration. “It does! Mal has the allegiance of the Moors, it’s either give them to her or fight a war against a land that doesn’t want them there. The adults- most of the adults are willfully ignorant enough to not notice the going on with the smaller gangs. We just need to orchestrate a distraction and get enough people on Uma’s ship that we can get everyone out!” 

Nasira’s face twists. “If it was that easy, child, we would have done it ages ago. This is a fool's errand. You should have abandoned us and lived your lives free in Auradon.”

Moving to clasp a hand to Nasira’s back, Cassim responds. “She’s right, Jay. You will get hurt by this plan. Auradonians will not be as merciful as you think they will be. But regardless-.”

WIth a deep sigh Nasira finishes his sentence. “- _ regardless _ we will be there to help.”

Jay bites his lip, eyes moving from Cassim to Nasira, back and forth. It was childish to assume that Cassim and Nasira would be as on board with the plan as they were, but despite that Jay continues to hope. A stupid thing to do. He plops down onto the couch next to Nasira, and details out their entire plan. From the initial spread of information, to the hidden bunkers filled with food, to the eventual evacuation and riots. Nasira and Cassim nod along. Offering suggestions to fill in their weak spots and criticizing other parts so much that Jay mentally cuts them out of the plan. Jade stirs awake once or twice, but Nasira, with a gentleness she rarely shows, soothes her back to sleep. 

In the end, he has a half-solid plan ready to take back to Mal, and two reluctant allies on their side. Job completed. Time to rendezvous with the rest at Clay’s cathedral. A quick glance at his biceps shows the faded colors on Jay’s tattoos. It would be good to get that fixed before Auradon, where he would have to go god knows how long without a decent artist. Jay slips out of the window, with a banged up tupperware tucked underneath his arm, and heads to Clay’s cathedral for the sit-rep. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope y'all liked the chapter, pls leave comments and kudos. they fuel me to write more, in fact thank you nkeid and monstersandmayhem for reminding me that i should work on this fic! you're wonderful. 
> 
> like i said before, check out my tumblr that has updates and you can also scream at me on it! i would very happy if you could.

**Author's Note:**

> this is barely re-written but it's fine. Anyway, follow me at my descendants sideblog ---> https://nikhirin.tumblr.com/ !
> 
> tell me what you think of it in the comments and give me any con crit that you have to offer.


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